Demons
by classyblue
Summary: Alexander deals with his demons and the damage they have caused.


Demons

His demons had slipped out again. No matter how much he tried to keep them hidden away, occasionally they would rear their ugly heads and get loose. This time they had claimed a victim.

Alexander had felt them trying to rise from their dark depth and tried to force them back down but they had been persistent and finally came boiling to the surface. His resolve had held them in check until one little spark had blow the cover off and he lost control.

There had not been many in the room when the storm was finally unleashed and Hephaestion had quickly emptied the room with a wave of his hand and told everyone to leave. No one tried to stay and help for fear of their own safety and had left quickly and quietly doing nothing to make matters worse. Alexander ranted and raved, his eyes big and enraged, his voice booming and his body shaking with the turmoil raging inside him demanding to get out. The one person who could get some resemble of control again was with him and trying his best to calm Alexander down, or at least take some control of the situation. The calm would come soon but not before the damage had been done.

Fearing that Alexander was going to hurt himself, Hephaestion had grabbed a hold of his friend and held on for dear life. The strength Alexander possessed when the demons came always surprised Hephaestion. He had stood behind the King and held on tightly trying to pin his arms. It had worked for a while and then a new strength sprang from the depth and Alexander broke free. He spun around and hit Hephaestion on the left side of his face, his ring scratching a path on the tender skin as it followed the hand it was on. Hephaestion fell back with the impact and landed several feet away from the enraged man.

Some of the rage seemed to leave with the blow but Alexander was still far from himself. He bellowed at Hephaestion to get out and leave him alone. Hephaestion sat on the floor for a moment assessing the situation before he slowly got to his feet. Alexander turned away from him and walked to the other side of the room and flopped down in a chair. He seemed calmer so Hephaestion walked to the door silently and quietly left the smothering King.

The next morning Alexander was fine. He had finally fallen asleep and, except for a few bruises and scrapes, he was back to his normal self. People were very quiet and caution when they were around him for fear of unleashing the demons again. The one person Alexander hadn't seen for a while was Hephaestion. It was unusual that he hadn't come to check on the King to make sure he was all right. Finally after several hours of meetings and paperwork, he decided to go see his general himself.

He entered the room and saw Hephaestion sitting at his desk, his right side facing Alexander. He knew things had gotten out of hand the day before and he guiltily sat down in the chair in front of Hephaestion. Hephaestion kept his head down and turned slightly to the left, his long hair falling over the left side of his face. Alexander cleared his throat and coughed. Hephaestion glanced up.

"Joy to you Hephaestion."

"Joy to you my King."

Alexander licked his lips and rubbed his forehead. Hephaestion looked back down at his work and began to write again.

"Thank you for helping me yesterday."

"You don't have to thank me, I will always be there when you need me."

Feeling better, Alexander rose to leave. Before he walked to the door he came up behind Hephaestion's chair and kissed him softly on the top of his head. He went to add a second kiss with both hands on either side of Hephaestion's face when he felt him wince.

"You're upset with me. Aren't you?" Alexander asked as he pulled away.

"Nay, I'm not upset."

"But you just pulled away from me when I tried to kiss you again."

Hephaestion sighed deeply. "I'm not upset with you Alexander, I promise."

Alexander frowned and started for the door not believing the words he had just heard. Hephaestion could see that he had not convinced Alexander so he rose from his seat quickly and caught him before he opened the door to leave. He put both of his arms around him from behind and held on tightly.

"I am not upset Alexander." He whispered in his ear.

Alexander turned in his arms before Hephaestion could stop him and Hephaestion watched helplessly as Alexander saw the left side of his face. All of the color drained from his face and then came flooding back to a deep red.

"Who did this to you? Tell me so I can destroy him with my bare hands."

"I'm fine. Please stay calm and don't get too excited again. It will be better in a few days."

"Hephaestion, tell me who did this to you?"

Hephaestion's eyes never left Alexander's as he stood silently in front of him. He watched the emotions play out on Alexander's face; anger, frustration and then the truth.

"Nay…oh, nay…I did this, didn't I?"

Hephaestion grabbed a hold of Alexander's shoulders and made him look him in the eyes. "You didn't do this Alexander, the demons did. I know you would never hurt me intentionally. It is their fault, not yours."

Alexander started to sob and Hephaestion held him tightly until the tears of guilt and shame passed.

"Can you ever forgive me?"

"There is nothing to forgive, my friend, nothing at all."

The bruises healed and the scratch across Hephaestion's face faded. Alexander fought harder than he ever had in his life to keep his demons under control. He never again lost control and hurt Hephaestion in his fury and anger.

And Hephaestion never left his side, until the very end.


End file.
